On finishing this film actress Dakota Johnson apparently went straight into therapy, with myself right behind her. This remake of the 1977 Italian horror “classic” (which no one actually called it) is one of the daftest, silliest, most bonkers things you will see all year. It’s like The Red Shoes (now there is a classic) mixed with Black Swan, but turned all the way up to 11 and with a bucket of blood poured over it. Some horror fans will love it for those reasons, others may find it all too noisy, gory or just plain silly. [Read more…]

Arguably the biggest shift in TV drama over the last years has been the rise of the Scandi noir. We Brits always love a murder mystery, but then The Killing came along it changed the TV landscape. We fell in love with the Scandi gloom, the atmosphere, the excellent acting and brilliant script. After The Killing came a flood of dramas, including Wallander, The Legacy, an Anglo-French version of The Bridge called The Tunnel, and of course, The Bridge. [Read more…]

Guillermo del Toro is a frustrating, baffling director at times. But boy, when he gets it right… and this loving tribute to b-movies and monster pictures of the 1960s is right up there with his considerable best.

Even his most hardcore fans would admit it’s easy to spot when his heart isn’t in a film. Pacific Rim was his attempt at a blockbuster movie, but it was as hollow as a child’s toy and had about as much longevity. Crimson Peak was a partial return to form, but still lacked heart. Here though we are firmly back in Pan’s Labyrinth and Devil’s Backbone territory. It’s beautiful, structured, detailed and very moving. [Read more…]

In 2014 the 100th anniversary of WWI began, and since then we’ve had a plethora of films, documentaries, tributes and dramas about the Great War. Most have been excellent, some middling, but it’s an exhaustive list, and some would say exhausting. However, this version of RC Sherriff’s play deserves to be seen, tired as you may be with war films. It’s released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 1918 spring offensive, and is a noble addition to the list of films dealing with the great conflict.

It’s a version of Sherriff’s play that sticks to the script – for the most part. There are some added four-letter words which he never wrote, and which add little to the power of the piece. Meanwhile some lines about cricket, Alice in Wonderland and drinking have been cut. However it conveys, like the play and the fine 1988 TV film, the regimen of the men on the front, the nervousness, the routine, sometimes the boredom, and certainly the sheer terror of being in a trench 60 yards away from the German fortifications – “the width of a rugby field”. [Read more…]

A sort of Tess of the d’Urbervilles in French, this version of Guy de Maupassant’s novel is beautifully structured, exquisite to look at and packs a powerful punch. Some may find it slow or deliberately obtuse at times, with its fractured structure, time leaps and characters who are not immediately introduced, but patience reaps rich rewards. [Read more…]

If you need an actor to play Winston Churchill look no further than Harry Potter. The great Gary Oldman is the fifth man to play the wartime PM relatively recently after Timothy Spall, Robert Hardy, Michael Gambon and Brendan Gleeson, and he certainly has the gravitas to carry it off. That’s evidenced by his recent Golden Globe win and BAFTA nomination (the film also scored another eight nominations). Despite that, what he doesn’t have is a script that helps him out much, or a director who brings the story to life. A shame, as it could have been so much more, set during a pivotal month in WWII. [Read more…]